Not worth crowding Pogba to put him in the middle. Pogba and Mhkitaryan now comfortably more important than Mata when you consider how Jose wants to play.
8
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 42
- Goals
- 10
- Assists
- 6
- Yellow cards
- 5
- Status
Struggled to get into the game and find space, disappointing.
Said it a couple weeks ago and was crushed and may be yet again, but if he wants to be a starter (and who would blame him) then that'll likely be somewhere else as he's not important enough to keep Pogba or Carrick or Henrik out of the team or their best positions. And not suited well enough to the style Jose wants to play. If he is content with being an option off of the bench then all the better for us I suppose, but he does deserve to play regularly somewhere at this point in his career.
I guess we don't know how often Jose wants to rotate players/formation, and we'll play a lot of games, but I'm talking about starting regularly in league games and our big cup games. Just don't see him remaining first choice unless injuries hit.
I guess we don't know how often Jose wants to rotate players/formation, and we'll play a lot of games, but I'm talking about starting regularly in league games and our big cup games. Just don't see him remaining first choice unless injuries hit.
Mikhi is the end of him to be honest. He just doesnt have the drive and running of Mikhi and we need that the most.
Short term he could play as the no 10 when we play smaller sides at OT and we rest Carrick but long term I can't see him staking a claim.
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Hes fine out wide when he has Valencia who provides the actual width for him. But I agree that we cant have a front three of him, Mata and Zlatan. Would be better of not playing him. Saying that, his movement for the goal (which wasnt given) was great and he was unlucky to be robbed of that.
Typical Mata performance today, slow and safe.
Was Martial not confirmed injured?
Rooney and mata both should not play if we have Zlatan as CF. There is no pace.. No width and no creativity. Everything is in front of the opponent. Rather would have preferred lingard to play ahead of Mata.
Probably his least influential game of the season. Should have had a goal though.
Fabulous player, fabulous servant and still a very important player for us.
Should have had a goal.
He needs to be in the team every week for me. I don't see why we don't play a 4312.
Carrick
Herrera-Pogba
Mata
Zlatan-Martial
He needs to be in the team every week for me. I don't see why we don't play a 4312.
Carrick
Herrera-Pogba
Mata
Zlatan-Martial
Nah, there will be plenty of playing time for both of them between league, cups, Europe, injuries, suspensions etc
Agree. Add to that Mata is good at finding goal scoring chance despite not being a forward, which is well suited having Zlatan as main forward, and hypothetically with Rashford chip in the forward role.
I see Rooney is the one who is at the wrong end of thing here since recently we find that 3 in midfield brought out the best of many of our players: Pogba, Herrerra, Mikhi... Rooney recently decline even in end product.
It does feel like he isn't first choice now again though even after he was one of our best players in the first part of the season. I'm not so sure Jose will use him in the big games when everyone is fit though.
Edit - I think he's brilliant but Miki has singlehandedly won games for us. If he keeps doing that mata won't be a starter imo
Edit - I think he's brilliant but Miki has singlehandedly won games for us. If he keeps doing that mata won't be a starter imo
Tbh this is not that far from what it looks like when we attack, he certainly drifts quite a lot inwards. So does Lingard when he plays in that position. They are as much central players as wide players when we attack.
Defensively, our high press will probably not work that well with such a formation. Who press the full-backs in such a system? If it turns out to be Mata and Martial, we're just back into what we are doing atm.
For the entire first half he was playing centrally. thats likely to be under instruction when its such a clear thing. Bailly was providing the width going forward.
Defensively the pressing of fullbacks isnt determined by the formation but by who is the nearest player to the defender on the ball. If a team has attacked and had a fullback overlap while attacking then essentially the formation is now out of whack. this is why defending during the 3rd moment (the moment a team loses the ball) is not determined by the formation. Jose was a huge adopter of the 4 moments of football, its been the backbone of his managerial career.
What are the other 3? I don't think Ive heard that term before, is it similar to phases - like established attack/defence and transition attack/defence?
It boils down to the key to much of a game comes down to the 4 moments. The moment a team wins possession, the moment a team is comfortable in possession, the moment a team loses possession, the moment a team is defending. There are a number of key elements such as concentration, changing in thinking and approach, awareness of positional requirements, awareness of next move etc etc. By breaking the game down to 4 moments Mourinho believes that it becomes easier for teams to react and act appropriately without over complicating tactics. Because the game has got faster and more intense the clearer and more precise a teams reactions to situations are the better.
Its different to transitions in some respects because its a change in mentality, concentration and decision making process. Mourinho still works on transitions etc.
Cheers, that is very interesting. Makes it easier to understand what Mourinho is talking about in his interviews too. For example he talked about the moment of losing and winning possession after the last game, regarding Mkhitaryan and his improvement in that area.
I like Mata, he's proved me wrong this season. Don't like him on the right though, think he has to play as a 10 or not at all.
That said, he was bobbins today.
That said, he was bobbins today.
jose likes 2 players for 1 position and i am very sure we need 6 players for 3 positions that are attacking. Henrikh, mata, rashford,martial pogba and rooney are our current in favour options. with lingard as a squad player. I am pretty sure rooney will leave before anyone else from this group. Mata may also leave but i think he is a very consistent and a great option to have.I dont think he will have a problem staying if he playes 30 games in a season in different positions(We should be playing 50-55 games). I dont think rashford will be in this group as he will either play up front as cover for main striker or hrad out on loan. So we have easily a room for another signing here. I think when Rooney leaves and Rashford is constantly applied in centre forward position we will need depth and mata is a great option to have. I think he is very important player for us and was going to get the winner but ref ruled the goal wrongly offside.
He has been our most productive player and i do not think he will be let go unless he asks so.
He has been our most productive player and i do not think he will be let go unless he asks so.
I think he was, didn't know at the time.
I thought it was one his poorer games of the season for us (even his touch was letting him down a bit) and yet he put in the free-kick which we scored from and he scored would should have been the winner, so at least he's cropping up with good moments.
He's simply not a winger. No pace and doesn't have physicall atributes to track back effectively. He should be played as #10 when we can afford to rest Carrick so Pogba moves a bit back in that case. That makes Lingard as the only proper backup for Mkhi...We have almost the same issue on the left too (albeit a bit less severe). That area of the team needs strengthening sooner than later.
He was pretty ineffective last night. Lingard definitely offered more movement when he came on.
Still an important player who has saved us more than once over the last years and has always been professional & passioned.
Really like him and hope he stays even if his influence might decrease in the next months/years. His experience and potential to always create something special has been and will be very valuable for us.
Not his best game yesterday but neither his worst. Has enjoyed a good season so far and was in great form over weeks - he will be back!
Really like him and hope he stays even if his influence might decrease in the next months/years. His experience and potential to always create something special has been and will be very valuable for us.
Not his best game yesterday but neither his worst. Has enjoyed a good season so far and was in great form over weeks - he will be back!
Not his best game, he missed having Valencia at right back.
With Tony at right back, if Mata is on the right he can just drift infield as Tony provides the width. Should of had another winner though.
With Tony at right back, if Mata is on the right he can just drift infield as Tony provides the width. Should of had another winner though.
I used to have a manager who used to hook the same players every game, eventually, they either stopped turning up to play or their form dipped that much they ended up on the bench anyway.
Doesn't matter how well Mata plays, he's the man for the hook every game. I feel sorry for him and Martial.
Doesn't matter how well Mata plays, he's the man for the hook every game. I feel sorry for him and Martial.
People are forgetting he scored a goal, this thread would look a bit different if it counted.
Everybody knows he has to play in the middle of the pitch to be fully effective, shoving him out wide on a narrow pitch is never going to work.
Everybody knows he has to play in the middle of the pitch to be fully effective, shoving him out wide on a narrow pitch is never going to work.
when you play with no real winger and an actual fullback on either side
Basically this. We had no penetration because Valencia wasnt there and Mata struggled more then the others because of this. Even though hes having a great season, people still underestimate the impact valencia has on the team. Him, Carrick and Ibra are probably the 3 that we look like half the side when they arent in it.
That's true but I think Mata will only play against weaker teams where we expect to dominate possession.
With the likelihood that he's going to be out of the starting XI plans for a while, I hope it doesn't have any effect on the dressing room, as he's one of the most likeable guys in the team and you could understand one or two of the spaniards being a little bit upset if mata isn't starting games.
Would you be surprised if he's gone in the summer? It's clear he loves the club, and he's a high earner here, but he's also in his prime and will want to be playing in the biggest games if possible. No one could blame him for that.
Or is it simply his reality that he's a notch below top tier when you look across all of the top teams in Europe, and being second choice actually makes sense? Be first choice at a slightly smaller club or come off the bench at a bigger club...
Or is it simply his reality that he's a notch below top tier when you look across all of the top teams in Europe, and being second choice actually makes sense? Be first choice at a slightly smaller club or come off the bench at a bigger club...
I will cry if he leaves, but this is the truth. My heart really goes out to him, he's a genuinely excellent player, and if we didn't have Pogba I'd want him starting at #10 every game; not only is he very creative, but he has the goals to boot. Unfortunately Pogba needs two midfielders to accompany him, and with Miki on the right, he just doesn't get into the team unless there's an injury
He'll be sold in the summer imo.
Im hoping he starts the next two games especially if Sunderland and Boro are going to be coming into the game trying to defend deep. It would be more suited to having him instead of Carrick further up with pace (Mkhi, Lingard, Martial, whoever) surrounding him.
No, selling him would be stupid IMO. He's the perfect squad player. He's had a good season (don't agree with some of the hype in this thread), but the way he's being managed is exactly how any top manager should be using him. A quality player but not good enough to start games consistently for any top club.
Think I agree with that and hope he feels the same way and plays a part in the trophies coming our way over the next few years.
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